Sannyasi-Fakir rebellion
Also called: Sannyasi rebellion · Topic: Peasant and Tribal Resistance under Company Rule · NCERT: Class 8, Ch 4 "The Colonial Era in India"
Meaning
The Sannyasi-Fakir rebellion was one of the earliest organised movements against Company rule. It began in Bengal after the famine of 1770 and lasted about three decades. Sannyasis (Hindu ascetics) and fakirs (Muslim ascetics) had always travelled freely on pilgrimage and lived on charity. The Company's new land and tax policies limited their movement. Historians still debate their exact motives, but they attacked British treasuries and tax collectors. The British called them 'bandits', executed some of them and finally defeated them with greater force.
Example
The rebellion later inspired Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay's novel Anandamath (1882). The novel contains the song 'Vande Mataram', which became a song of the freedom struggle and, after Independence, India's national song.
Don't confuse with
- Rangpur uprising (1783): also in Bengal, but a revolt by peasants against one revenue farmer, Debi Singh. It was not led by wandering ascetics.